| Matthew Ryan | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Matthew Ryan | ||
| Date of birth | 2 June 1967 | ||
| Original team(s) | Eltham (DVFL) | ||
| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Rover | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1985–1989 | Collingwood | 45 (44) | |
| 1990 | Sydney Swans | 10 (8) | |
| 1991–1992 | Brisbane Bears | 18 (8) | |
| Total | 73 (60) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1992. | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Matthew Ryan (born 2 June 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood, the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Bears in the Victorian/Australian Football League (AFL).
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, or simply called Aussie rules, football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of eighteen players on an oval-shaped field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the oval-shaped ball between goal posts or between behind posts.
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Formed in 1892 in the then-working class Melbourne suburb of Collingwood, the club played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) before joining seven other teams in 1896 to found the breakaway Victorian Football League. Originally based at Victoria Park, Collingwood now plays its home games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with its training and administrative headquarters located at Olympic Park Oval and the Holden Centre.
The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). Established in Melbourne as the South Melbourne Football Club in 1874, the Swans relocated to Sydney in 1982, thus making it the first club in the competition to be based outside Victoria.
Ryan, who was originally from Eltham, played just five games in his first two seasons but then had his best year in 1987. A rover, he amassed a club high 478 disposals, at just under 24 a game and was Collingwood's second best goal-kicker behind Brian Taylor with 28 goals. [1] He also finished runner-up in the Copeland Trophy and was his club's best performer at the Brownlow Medal, securing nine votes. [2] The following season he was again a regular fixture in the team, playing 18 games, including a semi final. [1]
Eltham Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Eltham, Victoria, currently competing in the Northern Football League.
The E.W. Copeland Trophy is an Australian rules football award given by the Collingwood Football Club to the player adjudged best and fairest for Collingwood during the year.
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal, is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game. It is the most prestigious award for individual players in the AFL. It is also widely acknowledged as the highest individual honour in the sport of Australian rules football.
Collingwood traded Ryan to the Sydney Swans at the end of the 1989 season, in return for draft picks 22 and 82, which were used on Mathew Hanrahan and Troy Lehmann. His Sydney debut in 1990 was against his former club and he performed well with 25 disposals and three goals. [1] After just one year in Sydney he again changed clubs, this time to the Brisbane Bears through the pre-season draft. He also averaged 21 disposals a game in 1991 but struggled to hold a place in the side the next year. [1]
Troy Lehmann is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood and the Brisbane Bears in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the early 1990s.
